Former Tigers three-sport athlete Phoebe Hersh, flanked by her parents, Craig and Wendy, will run track for Dartmouth College in the fall. Coach Dave Burns is standing in the back row.

TENAFLY - "She was a soccer and basketball player," said Tigers track coach Dave Burns, "and she could still run fast."

njmg file photo

Former Tenafly star Phoebe Hersh once thought she would play soccer in college but she gave up the pitch to run track for the Big Green.

Burns is talking about three-sport, 12-varsity-letters-winner Phoebe Hersh, who is heading to Dartmouth College to run track for the Big Green.

"I was looking for small, big, big on academics, not so big on academics schools," she said. "Dartmouth had everything I wanted. It's not a big school but it's a big community. Dartmouth was looking at me as an athlete but they also want me as a person. They want the best student-athletes.

Njmg file photo

"I visited in early October and slept on a blow-up mattress in a dorm. I didn't know the girl in the room but by the end of the visit I really knew her. Her friends were there too. I feel I'm going in with friends there. "

'A BETTER FIT'

Dartmouth runs on a trimester schedule which was also attractive to Hersh.

"With only three classes per term it will be easier to manage with my running schedule," she said. "I fell in love with the team and the coaches. I visited Columbia and Lehigh but they didn't compare to it."

Hersh's visit to Dartmouth was not the first time she had been to New Hampshire.

"I went to camp in New Hampshire when I was young," she said. "It was 30 minutes from Dartmouth. I wonder how much that weighed on my decision. I was also at soccer camp at Dartmouth and now Dartmouth is my future."

At first, Hersh had thought she might play soccer in college but that changed in her sophomore year at Tenafly.

"I played on a club [soccer] team and made a highlight tape," she said. "In sophomore year I had my best track times and my dad said, 'Hey Phoebe, maybe track would be better.' I began to talk to schools, asking them, 'how about if I ran track too.' All the letters I got back were asking about track [only].

"It was apparent that track was the better fit. At the end of the day I wanted to go to the best school I could. Soccer would only get me into Division 3 schools."

'NEED TO BE PLAYING'

In her youth Hersh played basketball, soccer, softball, tennis and ran track. She continued with soccer, basketball and track through high school.

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to play college sports," she said. "But now I know that I need to be playing something."

Hersh will leave soccer and basketball behind as she moves on to Dartmouth. Both of those teams at Tenafly had disappointing seasons this past year.

"In soccer I was a captain and I wanted to have a dream season," she said, "but it didn't happen. We were all close and it got us through. It was the same thing for basketball."

Hersh is what's called a "low-mileage" runner in that she only ran track for one season each year.

"Track can burn you out if you're running all year round," she said. "I'm excited to run for three seasons."

"She had accomplished a lot on the track," added Burns, "and Dartmouth is getting a runner with a lot of room for improvement. She was a three-sport athlete here and has never been able to train year round."

At Tenafly Hersh competed in the 800-meters, which she says is a "hybrid" because it is part of the sprint and distance medley races, and her favorite race, the 400 hurdles.

"I ran the 4-x-800 relay and the 400 in the sprint medley at the Nationals in North Carolina," she said. "We stayed in a hotel room and were all together for one last time."

"Phoebe is a tremendous leader and does what she needs to do for the team," said Burns. "She is so versatile and can run many events and unselfishly will put her primary race on hold if that means running another race for the team."

'TRACK FAMILY'

Hersh was very happy with her teammates' support as the season was winding down.

"The season goes on as long as you continue to place [in meets]," she said. "The girls were coming out to watch us and scream for us."

That team spirit, "community of our track family" and coach Burns are the things Hersh says she will miss as she begins to compete at the next level.

"Coach Burns is the best coach I ever had," she said. "He's a mixture of comical and serious. He goes way beyond [what needs to be done]. He'll be up all night finding new workouts online, he goes to the Penn Relays with us and he finds other tracks for us to run on [when ours is unavailable]."

Hersh will be going on an orientation trip with the team as soon as she gets to Dartmouth later this month. As a "bonding exercise" the group will be canoeing, hiking and kayaking, which is fine because she "likes the outdoorsy stuff."

"Track opened doors to schools I would never get into," she said. "I've always been a student first and I wanted to get to an Ivy League school. I was able to use athletics to go to a good school for athletics and academics."

Former Tenafly star Phoebe Hersh once thought she would play soccer in college but she gave up the pitch to run track for the Big Green.

Burns is talking about three-sport, 12-varsity-letters-winner Phoebe Hersh, who is heading to Dartmouth College to run track for the Big Green.

"I was looking for small, big, big on academics, not so big on academics schools," she said. "Dartmouth had everything I wanted. It's not a big school but it's a big community. Dartmouth was looking at me as an athlete but they also want me as a person. They want the best student-athletes.

"I visited in early October and slept on a blow-up mattress in a dorm. I didn't know the girl in the room but by the end of the visit I really knew her. Her friends were there too. I feel I'm going in with friends there. "

'A BETTER FIT'

Dartmouth runs on a trimester schedule which was also attractive to Hersh.

"With only three classes per term it will be easier to manage with my running schedule," she said. "I fell in love with the team and the coaches. I visited Columbia and Lehigh but they didn't compare to it."

Hersh's visit to Dartmouth was not the first time she had been to New Hampshire.

"I went to camp in New Hampshire when I was young," she said. "It was 30 minutes from Dartmouth. I wonder how much that weighed on my decision. I was also at soccer camp at Dartmouth and now Dartmouth is my future."

At first, Hersh had thought she might play soccer in college but that changed in her sophomore year at Tenafly.

"I played on a club [soccer] team and made a highlight tape," she said. "In sophomore year I had my best track times and my dad said, 'Hey Phoebe, maybe track would be better.' I began to talk to schools, asking them, 'how about if I ran track too.' All the letters I got back were asking about track [only].

"It was apparent that track was the better fit. At the end of the day I wanted to go to the best school I could. Soccer would only get me into Division 3 schools."

'NEED TO BE PLAYING'

In her youth Hersh played basketball, soccer, softball, tennis and ran track. She continued with soccer, basketball and track through high school.

"I wasn't sure if I wanted to play college sports," she said. "But now I know that I need to be playing something."

Hersh will leave soccer and basketball behind as she moves on to Dartmouth. Both of those teams at Tenafly had disappointing seasons this past year.

"In soccer I was a captain and I wanted to have a dream season," she said, "but it didn't happen. We were all close and it got us through. It was the same thing for basketball."

Hersh is what's called a "low-mileage" runner in that she only ran track for one season each year.

"Track can burn you out if you're running all year round," she said. "I'm excited to run for three seasons."

"She had accomplished a lot on the track," added Burns, "and Dartmouth is getting a runner with a lot of room for improvement. She was a three-sport athlete here and has never been able to train year round."